The Accidental Seduction of Edward Teach by Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate

Chapter 22 - Blood and Silk

"Do you have any idea how much Blackbeard's fucking reputation saves your fucking life?" snarled Izzy as he shoved Lucius hard up against the wall of the dingy bar.

The threat from his first mate was made more acute by the severed finger on the table and the trail of blood towards the door. The bounty hunter was more useful alive and able to reinforce his damaged reputation than dead, and an inconvenient body Ed might need to explain to the Magistrate.

Ed felt Jim's eyes on him as he slid the borrowed jacket and hat back on. Before he did, he wiped blood off his fingers with a kerchief he found in one of the pockets. The beautiful baby blue of the fabric billowed with dark red gore.

"I know, I know..." whimpered Lucius. It was a bit of a funny sight, given that the scribe was not as weak as he looked, and he stood a full head taller than Izzy.

"I don't think you do," growled Izzy as he got his face very close to Lucius'. "That man's reputation," he pointed back to Ed, "...is the only reason your poncy crew hasn't been overridden by rivals or taken out by the British or the Dutch or the French. He loses that reputation, you're all fucking dead."

"Is it just me, or does it feel like we've walked in on something intimate?" drawled Jim as they leaned in towards Ed and motioned with their dagger to where Izzy was nearly pressed up against Lucius.

Ed blinked a few times, widened his eyes, then headwobbled to concede that point. "Bit weird," he mumbled.

"Kinda hot, though," rasped Jim.

Ed couldn't tell if they were kidding or not. He shot Jim a look.

They just raised their eyebrows and shrugged.

—-

Izzy's words haunted Ed almost as much as the return to the Blackbeard mask - even though he only wore it for a short time. He had never stopped to consider that his reputation was still that important. But his first mate was right. Word was out that he was sailing on the Revenge, and that was enough to prevent most challengers - except the very bold or the very stupid.

Ed, it seemed, could never fully escape his brutal past. And now he had the added responsibility of actually giving a damn about the people under his wing.

He was in the captain's quarters, more specifically - in Stede's auxiliary wardrobe. He had hung his borrowed clothing back where he got it, minus the handkerchief he'd gotten blood on after chopping the man's finger off. That, he decided to keep for some reason that wasn't immediately clear to him.

And that's when it hit him. The scrap of blue fabric looked nearly identical to Stede's favourite pale blue frock coat. That ensemble was hanging in the wardrobe, and he held up the blood-stained slip to find it was, indeed, a perfect match.

Ed looked down at the dark red smear that had polluted it, then carefully folded it up and slipped it into his pocket. It lived now, next to the scrap of red silk he also carried.

There was a sudden commotion outside and Ed heard a series of footfalls and a chorus of speech. He reached for his knife, until he heard familiar voices.

"Ah! Mister Hands. There you are! We've been looking all over for you. Did you find the ruffian?"

Ed relaxed as he recognized Stede's voice and the man seemed his cheerful, normal self.

"I did," said Izzy hoarsely. "It's taken care of."

Ed emerged from the cabin to see the bulk of the crew moving up the gangplank.

"By taken care of, I do hope you don't mean killed. The man was just doing his job, after all. Bounty hunters need to make a living too, oh, Ed! Feeling better?" Stede crossed towards Ed.